Here we go again...Countdown to Christmas 2026 (Thread 1)

[NoWordForFluffy]

365

Evening!

I'm a bit tipsy and very tired, but it's been a good day.

Round 2 tomorrow with the roast dinner!

Morning!

I'm not braving the supermarket today! I have Sainsbury's coming later on, and I'm collecting a Tesco order tomorrow. I do need to pop to Aldi and Home Bargains as well, plus Jollyes. Errands galore tomorrow!

It's lovely here too this morning. Finally getting decent weather. And for the bank holiday too. 😱😱

I have a Tesco delivery this morning and shall be staying put this Bank Holiday weekend we won't be visiting mil as the hospital moved her to another hospital further away from the one she'd been at, this adds 20 mins more travel time each way if the roads are clear but now the weathers good then the roads will be far from good with all the tourists and will make visiting her a real trek. As it is this weekend along the route there are 2 huge festivals and events which have prompted warnings in the press about travel delays and theres no route we can take that would avoid either one of them.

evening! I’ve been to the allotment. I’m still hopeful that my sprouts and cabbages will take. They’ve been nibbled but they are alive!

Is it rabbits eating them or insects ?
I grow nasturtiums to invite all the Cabbage Whites to my garden so send them my way .

You can keep the rabbits though

216

Went out early before the M25 became a car park ,
DH has been doing some tidying , I am doing some leisurely cooking then I'll go out later (my skin doesn't tan unlike DH and DD , I burn and freckle so I'll wait till the sun has calmed a bit )

Afternoon!

I took the dog out at 7.30, before it got too hot. Lots of the regular dog walkers I know about then! The pre-7am weekday crew. I learned the name of a dog owner I've been speaking to for over 2 years this morning. 🤣 We knew each other's dog's name, but not each other's!

I've also been to my parents (and did some of their jigsaw, as they always have one on the go), then went to Jollyes and Tesco. FluffyDog got a puffed pig snout, which he loves, plus frozen sprats (doggy crack!) as well as food and a toy (octopus).

We're now drinking beer on the balcony. It's scorchio! ☀️

It is scorching! I nearly had to drive to scout camp to retrieve the 13 year old. He had a bad migraine apparently. They felt they were able to manage it. Well. Dh is there and was the leader in charge and messaging me. So at least I haven’t had to retrieve him and then return him tomorrow. If he’s bad again tomorrow I might go and rescue him.

im considering an early walk in the woods tomorrow to get me some exercise and to fe like I did something. Today I went to the allotment and did laundry but was majorly distracted by the potential rescue mission and it was just too hot. I’d spent time thinking about all the things I might do with my time and then didn’t.

I'm doing To Do Lists and some of them might get done , who knows .

Mainly laundry , cooking and clean the cupboard where the cups are .Pantry needs a tidy up .

Our male cat ( jet black , middle aged and still carrying his winter coat ) was parked on the garden path . DH said " he's in the shade " , he wasn;t , his rump was in full sun.
When he sheds his thick fur he is sleek and rangey . Not any more intelligent though

Such a good job he is castrated , he's swimming in the very shallow end of a shallow gene pool .

Great Movies goes into full blown “Christmas In June” from June 1st.
Movies 24 are sticking to Christmas in July.
Shall be dipping in over both months.

215

And BH Monday is the next Rudolph Day
I have got the ingredients ready to make some Paul Hollywood Monkey Bread for tomorrow , I need to mix it ( stand mixer will do the hard work ) they're a bit more faffy than Cinnamon Buns , they need shaped into balls and dipped in butter and cnnamon sugar .

214

Happy Rudolph Day

Early start to the day as our refuse colllection is a Monday and doesn't change for BH.

We are promised very high temperatures today so I'll water my plants before it gets too hot and DD will no doubt park herself under a parasol

Morning!

We're on the way to London. I'm dreading the heat once we're there.

I was up nice and early so I could get the dog out before it got too hot. It was quite pleasant before 7!

Our garden waste bin was collected today. We'd forgotten to put it out, but DH remembered and got it out as the wagon arrived on our road. Then he got it almost straight back in. Efficient.

afternoon! I learnt yesterday it’s better to morning water, so I was at the allotment early. And then I made a trip of wonky pots. We shall see how they dry and trim. I’ve still got a bunch to glaze. I need to start making stock if I ever want to sell anything. The wide dish on the left I intend to be a memory dish for the allotment to collect precious pebbles in.

Happy Rudolph Day!!

Fluffy turn back before its too late, its sooooooooooo hot in London. I am actually properly melting away.

I know. I almost died on the tube earlier! 🥵😫 Not looking forward to the Natural History Museum tomorrow as it gets stupidly hot in there!

And I think it may be even hotter tomorrow. Maybe get there early @NoWordForFluffy

Enjoy your day 😊

213

I do not like this weather more accurately the weather does not like me - I am in constant pain my legs and feet have swollen badly and that makes my neuropathy a thousand times worse. Last night I sat in the lounge watching TV (quiz night) with my feet in a storage box filled with cold water in front of a fan to try and reduce the discomfort. I slept under a wet towel with a fan blowing over me so have woken up very stiff. We went nowhere over the BH weekend thankfully as the local Facebook feeds and local newspapers all reported massive traffic gridlock never before seen this bad apparently & then there was a stabbing at the beach yesterday 😮 We do have to go out today to the big Tesco for some travel sized lotions and potions as well as a few bits and bobs that need topping up/replacing ... big Tesco has aircon... I may never leave lol

Where are you, @Gracesquirrel, as that sounds very much like you're local to us? Unless there were multiple beach stabbings yesterday. (You'd hope not!)

Gavin & Stacey land lol Barry born and bred.

212

Hopefully That London was it's wonderful, vibrant , chaotic self @NoWordForFluffy . It can be glorious with new things to explore or an utter shitpit with stroppy tempered people .

I like Leicester Square in a summers evening , it comes alive . All the lights and those pesky tuktuk bikes blaring out ABBA songs

211

Its cooled down a tiny bit today thank goodness. The gym is well air conditioned so I have been spending a lot of time there.

Have plans for gardening but its still too bloody hot. Thankfully the tomatoes and courgettes recovered. The peonies are just opening up and the wisteria and roses are in full bloom so its looking quite nice.

In other news we have a bumble bee nest - from observation i think the white tailed bumble bee but who am I to know? Its very exciting anyway, I love bees.

70, sadly too hot to be enjoyable. It was a resilience test! DS mostly enjoyed it. The Piccadilly line tested him somewhat as it wasn't functioning well and was rammed!

Magnolia, my tomatoes are still considering whether to recover. Their stems just aren't thickening, as I'd have expected. I've buried them all quite deep to encourage new roots and strength. And bought 3 more plants today from Dobbies.

210

Ooooh bees Magnolia we get the ones that burrow into the lawn and emerge looking all dopey , the cats are in Assassin Mode , I need to keep the little gits away from the bees as they will get stung , emergency vet trip will be needed and they won't learn from it !

I took DS to work because I'm a decent mother though he'd never admit this .
Housework, haircut, some shopping in town

Morning!

FluffyDog snapped at a bee yesterday and then acted a bit weird after, so we gave him a Piriton and there weren't any after effects (assuming he was stung).

We've had a washer engineer out today, as our machine has got stupidly loud during the spin cycle, so we guessed the bearings had gone. And we were right. She's coming back next week to replace the drum and bearings. Thankfully we have insurance, so we don't have to fork out for the repair.

I need to do housework today. Exciting! It's thankfully much cooler, so I won't get distracted by the sun lounger! 🤣

I was feeling very lethargic due to the heat but yesterday late afternoon had a sudden burst of energy and started emptying out the shed (its very old and falling down so needs to be replaced). Filled the car for a tip trip this morning then totally got the bug so came back from the tip and put tonnes of stuff on Vinted plus filled 4 bin bags with clothes for the charity shop.

So I have nothing to wear but I do have lovely empty wardrobes. I think I might want to be like that woman who just wore 3 dresses for a year or something.

Glad you survived London Fluffy and hope the cats stay away from the bees 70.